Social media were once considered a boon for democracy. That enthusiasm has faded. A growing body of research is showing that social media are increasingly being used to hamper public debate and influence election outcomes. A recent overview-study has shown that cyber troops and public opinion manipulation is taking place in at least 82 countries in the world, including among others: European countries like United Kingdom, Sweden, the Netherlands and Russia, Asian countries like China, Thailand and Indonesia, as well as the United States (Bradshaw, Bailey, and Howard, 2020). While this phenomenon is referred to with different terms – from ‘organized social media manipulation’, ‘networked disinformation’ and ‘digital disinformation’ to ‘underground campaigning’ and ‘disinformation campaign production’4 – the commonality among observers is a considerable concern about the ways in which paid social media campaigns are not just distorting public debate but also weakening democracy.